Kevin Duffy: UConn feels impact of Newtown tragedy

Updated 12:53 am, Monday, December 17, 2012

STORRS -- About an hour before tipoff of a November game at Gampel Pavilion, Shabazz Napier briefly snuck out of the shootaround to greet a little girl who exclaimed, "Uncle Bazz!"

"My niece is 2 1/2" Napier said after Sunday morning's practice, "and she's a bundle of joy ... I love her to death."

No Huskies were directly affected by the most heinous crime of our generation, but all felt the impact -- to some degree -- of a Newtown elementary school shooting that robbed six adults of their lives and 20 children of their futures.

"I had to give my sister a call," Napier said. "Let her know I had to talk to my niece. It's one of those tragedies that makes you cherish what you have."

Chatter of rebounding and Enosch Wolf as the starting center and DeAndre Daniels' breakout performance 10 days ago all seemed trivial Sunday morning. So did Kevin Ollie's contract situation and the always-dramatic conference realignment saga. Some things, as Ollie conceded, are beyond basketball.

"I just stressed it -- go home and love your family," Ollie said. "You never know if it's going to be your day or your family that's close to you." Ollie has often spoken about his 11-year-old daughter, Cheyenne. He even shed tears during his introduction when he mentioned her name, proclaiming that the walk to the bus stop with Cheyenne was the best part of his day. So Sunday, Ollie spoke as a father, not necessarily as a basketball coach.

"It could have been any of our kids that got on the bus," he said. "I walk my daughter to the bus every day, and 20 families didn't get their son or daughter back."

The UConn basketball family has a few ties to Newtown: Former Husky manager Kyle Lyddy, now an assistant coach at Immaculate High in Danbury, graduated from Newtown in 2005. And P.J. Cochrane, a 2008 Newtown grad, was a walk-on with the Huskies from 2010-12.

"Our hearts are broken here in Newtown," Cochrane wrote in an email to Hearst Connecicut. "It is still so hard to understand how something like this could happen here. My heart breaks for the families that lost such little children and their loved ones. I don't know how you move on from such a tragedy. However, if there is a town that can cope, comfort and help heal these wounds, it is this community."

Truth is, the wounds will never fully heal. That's the harsh reality of such an inexplicable act.

But the Huskies wanto to help in any way possible, when the time is appropriate, it seems they will. Ollie talked Sunday about making the 75-mile trip to visit the town. The Huskies also plan on wearing a patch to honor the victims, perhaps as early as tonight's game against Maryland Eastern-Shore (7 p.m., XL Center).

Shortly after the tragedy, Ollie addressed his players, preaching that life is "more than basketball." "It's grabbing your loved ones," he said.

And Napier's niece, who comes to almost every game, is sure to get an extra-tight hug from Uncle Bazz.

"It struck me to the core," Napier said.

At the same time, though, Napier and the Huskies realize that it's not about them. Their reaction was sought-after because Newtown sits 57 exits west of campus on I-84. Anyone from Japan to California to Storrs should feel the same emotion: complete heartbreak for the families involved and, above all, the 20 futures that were destroyed Friday morning.

"Those are children who are 6 and 7 years old who can't live their lives," Napier said. "Those are 20 futures that we just don't know. One of those kids could have found the cure to cancer, something like that. It hurts."